Max Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-TelegramTexas Christian bottled up Utah's offense on Saturday and still has hopes of crashing the BCS championship party. But did the Horned Frogs miss an opportunity to face Ohio State?

THIS WEEK'S BEST NATIONAL GAMES1. No. 11 Oregon at Arizona, Saturday, 8, ABC: Important Rose Bowl scouting. With just one Pac-10 loss, Oregon controls its destiny. An Arizona win could create a four-way tie among teams with two conference losses.2. Kansas at No. 3 Texas, Saturday, 8, ABC: Longhorns outscored opponents, 164-38, in last four games. Little chance they'll get off track against team that is 1-5 in the Big 12. 3. No. 4 TCU at Wyoming, Saturday, 2, Mountain West Sports Network: It's on DirecTV channel 616. Or at least catch the highlights of a 10-0 team that scored 55 points in each of its last two games.

HEISMAN WATCH1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama, So., vs. Chattanooga: David Palmer's third-place finish in 1993 is the best Heisman result for an Alabama player. After 149 yards Saturday, that looks ready to change. Odds: 2-1. 2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas, Sr., vs. Kansas: If he was having his 2008 season, he'd have it wrapped up already. Last year, 34-8 touchdowns to interceptions. This year, 19-9. Odds: 3-1. 3. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford, Sr., vs. Cal: Six TDs and 401 rushing yards the last two weeks in wins over Oregon and USC. Couldn't be doing anything more to gain attention. Odds: 4-1. 4. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida, Sr., vs. Florida International: His standard might be higher than others. If you want to join Archie Griffin as the only two-time winner, you really need to earn it. He hasn't. Odds: 5-1. 5. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State, So., at Utah State: Hasn't completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes in any game. In a year with lots of non-BCS talk, he's the best non-BCS candidate. Odds: 7-1. 6. Case Keenum, QB, Houston, Jr., vs. Memphis: A second loss by Houston ends his hopes. Stats — 419 passing yards per game — are ridiculous, but you can't lose to Central Florida. Odds: 15-1. 7. C.J. Spiller, TB, Clemson, Sr., vs. Virginia: Other prognosticators are much more on board. Electric threat as a runner, receiver and returner, but has fewer rushing yards than Syracuse senior and former Plain Dealer offensive player of the year Delone Carter. Odds: 20-1. Dropped out: Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen.

DOUG’S TOP 25 A quick explanation on my AP ballot. It's based on results; is a reflection of the past, not a prediction of the future; reevaluates every time each week based on overall resume; and no teams owns its place in the poll from week to week. 1. Alabama; 2. Texas; 3. Florida; 4. TCU; 5. Cincinnati; 6. Boise State; 7. Georgia Tech; 8. Oregon; 9. Ohio State; 10. LSU; 11. Pitt; 12. Iowa; 13. Clemson; 14. Oklahoma State; 15. Rutgers; 16. Penn State; 17. Wisconsin; 18. Arizona; 19. Oregon State; 20. Stanford; 21. Virginia Tech; 22. Utah; 23. BYU; 24. Miami; 25. USC -- Doug LesmerisesCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State's win Saturday sent the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl. If their schedule this season had worked out differently, the Buckeyes' win may also have sent Texas Christian to the national title game.

In late December of 2007, Ohio State said it had reached a deal to open the 2009 season at home against TCU. Army had recently backed out of a planned series, and the Horned Frogs, coming off an 8-5 season, were set for a one-game trip to Columbus. According to Ohio State, the game had been agreed to but the contract wasn't yet signed.

Then it never happened. A two-game series against Navy was later announced, and the Midshipmen opened this season with a 31-27 loss to the Buckeyes that went down to the final minutes.

The Horned Frogs haven't lost yet.

But even a perfect season won't send the best team in the Mountain West to the BCS National Championship unless Texas loses one of its final three games. At 10-0, TCU is ranked No. 4 in the BCS standings, fourth in both polls and No. 5 in the computer rankings.

With blowouts of the next-best teams in the Mountain West -- a 38-7 win over BYU and Saturday's 55-28 shellacking of Utah -- the Horned Frogs have done all they can. Their nonconference schedule included a win over 6-4 SMU, currently leading its division in Conference USA, and road victories over two ACC teams, 3-7 Virginia and 7-3 Clemson.

What if that schedule included a victory over the Big Ten champ? That might very well have been enough to get the voters and the computers to lift TCU over Texas, whose relatively unimpressive schedule includes a win over BCS No. 12 Oklahoma, a 3-point victory over Oklahoma and little else.

Boise State, the undefeated team from the WAC jockeying for position for a BCS berth with TCU, has a PR firm working to get the word out on the Broncos. There has been some talk of major teams being unwilling to schedule Boise State for even a one-game visit. All the PR in the world can't do what wins over big-time teams can do for a non-BCS school.

And TCU had that chance with the Buckeyes.

"I'd say Ohio State really wanted it," TCU associate athletic director Jack Hesselbrock, who handles the Horned Frogs' football scheduling, said last week. "They had an opening and needed an opponent, and I think the fans would have liked it and been intrigued by it."

Hesselbrock said TCU was about 50-50 on taking the game, but certainly talked it over. There were some logistical problems. Virginia was already scheduled for the season opener and according to Hesselbrock, it would not have been easy to shift that game. Also, with TCU's growing success, the Horned Frogs were looking to get away from taking paydays to serve as opponents for BCS schools, as they did with losses to Texas in 2007 and Oklahoma in 2008.

So while they liked the idea of playing Ohio State for the first time since 1973, the program was hoping to move beyond that.

"And Ohio State was not interested in a return here for obvious reasons," Hesselbrock said.

At the same time, TCU was talking about a home-and-home series with a different BCS school. But that didn't work out. A gap remained in the schedule. So TCU announced in February that it was signing a one-game deal to play at Clemson this season.

That 14-10 victory against a team ranked No. 23 in the BCS standings is TCU's best win, and it wouldn't have happened if the Ohio State game had worked out. But a win over the team currently No. 10 in the BCS would have helped TCU much more.

Not that a win was a sure thing. But if the Buckeyes had to hang on against Navy, the Horned Frogs would have been a handful. They feature the No. 4 offense in the nation, averaging 468 yards per game, and the No. 4 defense, allowing only 244.9 yards. That's just ahead of Ohio State's No. 5 defense.

If Ohio State had lost an opener to TCU, maybe the Buckeyes would have made more adjustments and found a way to beat USC in their second game. Either way, a loss to TCU wouldn't have changed Ohio State's final destination -- they'd still be headed to the Rose Bowl.

But it may have changed the course of the BCS.

As a voter in the AP poll, which isn't part of the BCS, I very nearly ranked TCU No. 2 this week, behind Alabama and ahead of Texas and Florida. But I didn't do it. I kept TCU No. 4. The Horned Frogs needed one more push. And a win over Ohio State would have done that.

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